Whey is a by-product of the production of cheese. Traditionally, whey is disposed of as unused waste or used as fertilizer or animal feed. As an alternative to egg white solids, the food processing industry utilizes whey protein preparations to impart specific properties to a variety of formulated food products. For the food processing industry, whey protein represents an important and valuable source of ingredients due to its organoleptic properties and functional properties, as well as its lower cost compared to egg white solids.
One of the beneficial uses for whey protein in the food processing industry is as a foam. Whey proteins can be whipped to form a foam for use in, for example, low-calorie desserts, ice cream, and confectionary products. Unfortunately, whey protein tends to exhibit poor foaming properties as compared to egg white solids, including, poorer whippability and, after being whipped, poorer foam stability.
Many processes have been proposed to improve the foaming properties of whey protein. Phillips et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,580,491, for example, describes non-enzymatic methods for modifying whey proteins to improve the foaming properties of the whey protein. Blecker et al., “Modification of the interfacial properties of whey by enzymatic hydrolysis of the residual fat”, Food Macromolecules and Colloids, edited by Dickinson and Lorient, pp. 85-89 (1995), describes an enzymatic method for modifying whey protein by enzymatic hydrolysis with a lipase. Chen, WO 01/06867, also describes an enzymatic process for improving foaming properties by modifying a whey protein preparation using a protease.
Despite these and other advances, there is still a need in the art for processes for improving the foaming properties and organoleptic properties of whey proteins preparations.